Pages

Saturday, April 28, 2012

May 1st Letter to Faculty

April 28, 2012Dear Hunter Faculty,This
letter is from a number of adjunct faculty in a variety of disciplines
at Hunter, who are involved in an independent group called Adjuncts for
Liberation (A4L).

It
is clear that as CUNY employees, all of us are facing the effects of
the current economic crisis. This situation is particularly acute for
adjuncts: we go semester by semester (and often paycheck to paycheck),
unsure if we will be reappointed, and our healthcare (for those of us
lucky to have it) hanging constantly in the balance.

In
addition to our precariousness as workers, our classes are bigger, we
are forced to teach fewer classes of our own design and more large
lectures (when we’re lucky enough to get classes at all), and have less
time to work with our students. Many of us work at least one other job,
and many of us more than that. With
all of this in mind, A4L is thinking about May 1st, an historic day of
labor and political action in the United States and all over the world.
A variety of groups, including Occupy Wall Street and Strike Everywhere
(a regular general assembly made up of mostly precarious workers), has
called for a “General Strike.” However, the meaning of a general
strike in a society with such dispersion of labor, and such a high level
of precarity is up for debate. We see this day as one of many in the
fight against our exploitation, that of our students, and that of other
workers. We have been working without a new contract for over a year,
and it is clear the only way we can change our situation is to work
collectively.Obviously,
a general strike requires that a large proportion of the workforce take
part. In this day of broken unions, broken union laws, deunionization,
and precaritization, the term needs to take on new meaning--we hope
this meaning is the recognition of the need to organize together, along
with the experience of resistance.. With that in mind, WE INVITE YOU,
dear Hunter professor or instructor, to join in the strike with the goal
of organizing collectively in the near future. We know that you are
aligned with many of the values represented by the General Strike, but
that striking has become a difficult act, especially when framed as
something that individual people do. In order to support you in acting
in solidarity, we suggest below a number of ways and in which you may
take action on May day. The idea is to give you the tools you need to
support the strike in a way that you are able, although none of the
official activities have been planned by A4L.. In the future, we hope to
be able to organize for an actual SOCIAL strike, where instead of
taking action as individuals we act together.1)
SIGN THE CUNY FACULTY STATEMENT OF SUPPORT FOR MAY 1st:
(https://sites.google.com/site/occupycunywiki/resources/faculty-support-letter)2)
CANCEL CLASS AND TELL YOUR STUDENTS IT IS BECAUSE OF THE GENERAL STRIKE
AND ENCOURAGE STUDENTS TO GO TO BRYANT PARK, WHERE THERE WILL BE A
POP-UP OCCUPATION 8AM-2PM, OR TO MADISON SQUARE PARK, WHERE THERE WILL
BE A FREE UNIVERSITY FROM 10AM-3PM*.3) ASSIGN YOUR STUDENTS A VISIT TO THE FREE UNIVERSITY AT MADISON SQUARE PARK OR TEACH YOUR CLASS THERE THAT DAY. (sign up here: http://maydaynyc.org/freeuniversity).4)JOIN THE MARCHES WITH YOUR STUDENTS:Student Convergence at Madison Square Park @3pmMarch to Union Square @ 4pmMarch to Wall St @ 5:30pm 5) HOLD CLASS OUTSIDE OF YOUR CLASSROOM, PREFERABLY OUTSIDE THE HUNTER BUILDINGS, SAY, AT CENTRAL PARK.6)
HOLD CLASS IN ITS USUAL LOCATION, BUT CONDUCT A TEACH-IN ON TOPICS
RELATED TO THE GENERAL STRIKE THAT DAY (We are happy to [provide
teach-in materials. (Contact us here: hunter.teaches@gmail.com or go
here: adjunctsforliberation.blogspot.com).7)
COMBINE YOUR CLASS WITH THOSE OF OTHERS FOR A JOINT TEACH-IN, IN A
CLASSROOM OR IN A PUBLIC SPACE WITHIN HUNTER(WE ARE HAPPY TO JOIN YOU IF
YOU LET US KNOW).For the strike to be taken seriously, we are counting on YOUR SOLIDARITY!*For more information, visit http://maydaynyc.orgor http://maydaynyc.org/freeuniversityIn solidarity,Adjuncts for Liberationhunter.teaches@gmail.comadjunctsforliberation.blogspot.com